Ivan III Drašković (English: John III Drashkovich of Trakoshtyan; Hungarian: trakostyáni gróf Draskovich János, (Trakošćan, 13 March 1595(?) or 1603 – Óvár (Kingdom of Hungary), 5 August 1648), was a Croato-Hungarian warrior and statesman, a member of the Drašković noble family. He served as Palatine of Hungary from 1646 until his death.
During his lifetime, the Drašković family achieved the highest point of its power, wealth and influence. Due to his successes in battles against the Ottomans, Ivan III Drašković was well known as defensor Croatiae (English: defender of Croatia), having organised the Croatian defence forces, fortified the towns and castles, as well as built border military strongholds at the same time. On 4 September 1631 he was given (together with his brother Nicholas I and his cousin Caspar II) the title count by the Croato-Hungarian king Ferdinand II.
In his career Drašković was, among other duties, a cavalry captain, master of king's chamberlains and king's secret advisor. On 10 July 1640 he was appointed ban (viceroy) of Croatia and superior commander of Karlovacmilitary frontier. Thus he was the third member of the family sitting (so far) on the ban's throne, after his father Ivan II and his grandfather's brother Juraj.
Having performed the high function of palatine, Drašković suddenly died on 5 August 1648 in his new domain Óvár, Nógrád County (today Olováry in the Banská Bystrica Region, southern Slovakia), he had been given a short time before his death by the king Ferdinand III. He was buried during a solemn funeral rite in the St. Martin's Cathedral in Pressburg, which served as the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830. His grave is situated next to the grave of his father.
